Kinder Gate, Kinder Scout, Edale Moor, Derbyshire
[ 17 km] Wed 30 Nov 2011

SK 1151 9025
I decided to give the Kinder Scout area another visit as the weather is better than last week. With a shorter than normal driving time it was still pitch black when I arrived and still dark when I set off up the fell. The first part of my walk was through densely wooded pine trees and even with my head torch on I had difficulty finding the path. Once over the footbridge across the River Ashop I could see my way ahead. The path was awash with water as there had been a lot of rain recently.

I followed the path along Fair Brook to get access to the summit Plateau of Kinder Scout. It’s a very good path for the first mile then gets steeper as it climbs by various boulders. Once on the top I turned right along an indistinct route to Fairbrook Naze. It’s worth spending a bit of time here as the views are good with many interesting rock formations. I continued west for another mile, enjoying the views down to the River Ashop on my right. Then I turned left to head across open ground for the trig post. A helicopter was flying in and out as it brought loads of something in bags. Normally they bring bags of stone in but these bags seemed lighter and further on I saw a pile of empty bags and logs on top.

Last week I’d seem piles of logs used to bridge ravines. The ground was easy to cross and I soon arrived at the trig post which was sat on a column of stones projecting above the surrounding peat. There was also another concrete trig post lying on its side. This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing. I carried on over a wooden stile then down to the main path along the edge of the plateau and approaching the Kinder Downfall waterfall.

It was very windy and the waterfall was extremely impressive as it was being blown back upwards and across the fell. I continued upstream along the River Kinder following the same route as last week. However, this time I didn’t have to return to the north side of Kinder Scout as my plan was to continue along the river as far as I could then continue over the tops to the path along the south side of Kinder Scout. The walk along the river was delightful. It’s wide and shallow and easy to hope across to change banks. One area is called Kinder Gates where a low rock cliff protrudes above the river bank. Higher up I came to branch in the path and took the wrong one. I should’ve turned left but went right. I had to do some interesting bog hopping to regain the correct route.

Above Kinder Downfall

I saw some interesting features I’ve never seen before. They were sheet piles driven in across peat gulleys. They held the water back to prevent erosion. I reached the main path above Crowden Brook and continued for about 2 miles to Nether Tor. I turned left to head north across the moor to the north edge path. There’s no path but it’s the narrowest crossing point of the whole plateau and quite easy to navigate. I was on the main path for less than a mile before reaching Blackden Moor and starting my steep descent to Gate Side Clough, the same route I’d used to climb to the summit last week. With care it was an easy route and once on the quad bike track a doddle. Back at Fair Brook there isn’t a bridge to get across but I was able to find some boulders to hop across and rejoin the path to the footbridge over the River Ashop. The walk through the pine woods back to the car was much easier now that I could see where I was going.